Before the proposed Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules come into effect there is a timeframe in which you can submit your comments. As of now, fewer than 100 comments have been received about flight at night and over people. The FAA actually pays attention to your input and takes it into consideration when making the final rules.

You can submit your comments on:

proposed new rules to allow professionals to routinely fly drones at night and over people

how to safely prepare for Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM), implement payload restrictions and enable flight beyond visual line of sight.

The National Park Service in August 2014 made it illegal to launch, land, or operate unmanned aircraft under 36 CFR 1.5, which essentially gives the National Park Service the authority to impose public use limits such as hours of operations or not walking off the path.

However, there is a chance you can still fly your drone there. Purposes such as scientific study, search and rescue operations, fire operations, and law enforcement can operate under written permission from National Park Service administration.

No matter what National Park you want to fly in, contact that park’s specific management team well in advance and explain what you need to do. It would help if you can prove your case and professionalism. Ideally you would have a Part 107 certification from the Federal Aviation Administration to prove you are a licensed drone pilot. If you don’t, get it first!

Last week, we had the much-anticipated Part 107 drone regulations, which will supersede the current exemption process and is estimated by the FAA to eliminate 85 percent of the present exemptions to drone piloting.

Notably, the new rules replace private pilots at every flight with operators that have passed a less-strenuous and less-expensive aeronautical knowledge test.

In a report from [BI Intelligence][1], we take a deep dive into the various levels of the growing global industry for commercial drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This report provides forecasts for the business opportunity in commercial drone technology, looks at advances and persistent barriers, highlights the top business-to-business markets in terms of applications and end users, and provides an exclusive list of dozens of notable companies already active in the space. Finally, it digs into the current state of US regulation of commercial drones, recently upended by the issuing of the Federal Aviation Administration's draft rules for commercial drone flights. Few people know that many companies are already authorized to fly small drones commercially under a US government "exemption" program.

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Here are some of the main takeaways from the report:

The global commercial drone market will take shape around a handful of industries: agriculture, energy, utilities, mining, construction, real estate, news media, and film production.

Most growth in the drone industry is on the commercial/civilian side, as the shift away from the military market gains momentum.

E-commerce and package delivery will not be an early focus of the drone industry.

Legacy drone manufacturers focused mostly on military clients do not have a natural advantage in the fast-evolving civilian drone market.

Proposed US regulation would effectively end the ban on commercial drone flights.

Technology barriers are both a roadblock and a huge business opportunity.

Many of the notable early commercial UAV manufacturers are emerging outside of the US market.

The commercial-drone industry is still young but has begun to see some consolidation and major investments from large industrial conglomerates, chip companies, and defense contractors

Some really smart people are putting a lot of money behind a new startup that makes it seamless for giant, Fortune 500 companies to integrate commercial drone technology into their corporate processes.

Change is on the horizon. The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 tasked the FAA with implementing clear-cut regulations allowing for the commercial use of UAVs, by no later than September 30, 2015. In the meantime, this Field Guide from the National Association of Realtors® includes resources to help REALTORS® stay abreast of the legal status of utilizing drones, and to learn about the potential future use of drones for the real estate industry.

Last Monday DOT’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released its recommendations of its Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Registration Task Force (RTF) Aviation Rulemaking Committee in the midst of its work to finalize new drone regulations. The FAA gave the task to provide some post-public-comment advice. The result for FAA’s consideration contains three key elements for registration:

Registrants would complete an electronic web or application (app) form;

FAA should immediately send back an electronic certificate of registration and a personal universal registration number for use on all small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) owned by that registrant; and

Registrants would mark all applicable drones with the registration number.

The National Association of REALTORS® has writen a great question and answer articlein response to its members’ growing interest in drones, or unmanned aircraft systems (“UAS”). A great recourse when it comes to navigating the legal and regulatory landscape of UAS, and a real estate professional.